The purpose of the Maintaining the Growing Edge Research and Demonstration Project is to develop and evalauate a wholistic approach to psychosocial services for older persons. The project seeks to develop services, based on a broad range of psychosocial needs, as determined by a goal-setting process, and to compensate for mental impairment in aging through identification of ability, interest, and empirically based programming. To achieve these objectives, research and program staff will collaborate on developing assessment techniques which can be used to identify the specific behaviors that appear to constitute psychosocial function, through a comprehensive study of 496 persons at skilled, intermediate and board and care facilities of the Ebenezer Society. Based on these assessments, traditionally and specially designed programs will be implemented to reinforce mental function, slow down deterioration, and reduce or even halt regression. These programs may be formal and organized group work, or, like milieu therapy, may permeate the services of the staff, families, volunteers, and be reflected in the physical setting. To experimentally determine whether mental impairment, as defined, and the programs, as offered are effective, a controlled experiment will be conducted (1976-8 at Ebenezer Ridges, a new 104 bed skilled care facility with a second control site (Careview Nursing Home) to be used to represent a traditional (yet quality) programming model. Instruments and methods used include: the originally-developed Human Development Inventory, the Kahn-Goldfarb Mental Status Satisfaction Index, Behavior Mapping, as well as OTR, speech, vision and audiological screening. From the results of experimentation and program development at all the facilities, alternative models of psychosocial programming in long term care will be developed and educational and program materials prepared.